Thanks to its excellence, shops, trattorias, food companies and sacred places of food, the capital of the food valley has earned a major accolade. Parma is now the first Italian city to be awarded by Unesco for its gastronomy.
Parma has been officially proclaimed by Unesco a "Creative City of Gastronomy". It is the first time an Italian city has received this highly prestigious official recognition, which Unesco, the UN agency responsible for safeguarding world cultures, awards to cities that demonstrate unique qualities in agri-food creativity, born of tradition, ingenuity and innovation.
Unesco has just added, to the lists of its Creative Cities programme, Rome for cinema and Parma for gastronomy. The network comprises over 70 cities in 32 countries, among which, of the Italian members, Bologna (for music), Fabriano (for folk art) and Turin (for design) were already included. This recognition came following the official candidacy put forward in Paris months ago. The protocol signed between the Region, Anci, the Municipality of Parma and the association Chef to Chef is the foundation of the process that led to the recognition of Parma and Emilia-Romagna's gastronomy as a strategic bridge between Mediterranean and continental cuisine. The other cities for gastronomy just proclaimed Creative Cities by Unesco are Bergen in Norway, Belém in Brazil, Burgos in Spain, and Phuket in Thailand.
Parma's strengths have been its gastronomic excellences, famous the world over, and its extraordinary network of companies and producers' consortia. It is no coincidence that Parma is home to the Efsa, the European Food Safety Authority, and Alma, the international cookery school whose rector is Gualtiero Marchesi. Another feather in its cap is a unique system of Food Museums. A giant such as Barilla has opened its Academia here, which houses a culinary institute and a gastronomic library of over 8,500 volumes and 4,750 historical menus.
The news was communicated on 11 December to the Mayor of Parma, Federico Pizzarotti, by Irina Bokova, Director-General of Unesco. This brings to a close the process launched in spring and given concrete form on 10 November last, with the presentation of the candidacy in Paris in the presence of many UN representatives. Together with the Municipality of Parma — which coordinated the entire operation through the department for Productive Activities and Tourism — virtually all the city's institutions and associations worked towards this goal. "Parma is on top of the world. We are the first Italian city in history to have become a Unesco Gastronomy heritage site — writes Mayor Federico Pizzarotti, radiant with joy — against all the prophets of doom, all the professional naysayers, our idea was judged the best among those put forward by the various candidates from around the planet. For years one had the impression that Parma had exhausted the future it once had, that it had played all its cards. I, on the other hand, have always believed that there was a bright and intelligent Parma out there on the streets, a Parma that is determined to re-emerge."
"I am particularly pleased with this result — declared Minister for Agricultural Policy Maurizio Martina — the visibility of Unesco and its creative cities will help not only Parma but the entire Italian agri-food sector in combating those phenomena of italian sounding that make our typical products the most imitated in the world. Unesco has today recognised that food is not merely a commercial product but the symbol of a community, the result of an identity-building process that demonstrates our creativity, in this field too. No one will be able to replicate the ability of those who produce food and make it unique in the world."
On the tables of Parma and its province there is Parmigiano Reggiano, cured meats and cold cuts often produced using the same traditional artisan techniques as in the past. The Crudo di Parma, which owes its quality to the special curing process on the breezy hills of Langhirano, and the Culatello di Zibello, which is enriched by the damp fragrances of the Po floodplains. The salame di Felino and the Spalla Cotta di San Secondo, often accompanied by torta fritta — a special rectangular sheet of water and flour dough, soft and crispy at the same time — and washed down with Lambrusco. Among the most typical and indulgent dishes are cappelletti or anolini in broth, and tortelli d'erbetta or di zucca. Among main courses, trippa alla parmigiana and la vécia — a peperonata with potatoes and minced meat — are still popular, while from the mountain areas come the delights of the forest floor, including the Funghi di Borgotaro Dop, excellent with the red Fortana del Taro Igt, an ancient native vine variety of the Bassa Parmense.
A few days ago marked the first anniversary of the inscription of the alberello vine-training agricultural practice of Pantelleria on Unesco's list of intangible cultural heritage, the first agricultural practice in the world to achieve this result. And also last year, the inscription on Unesco's Cultural Heritage List of the first wine-growing landscape was obtained, that of the Langhe-Roero and Monferrato. The negotiation was led by Professor Pierluigi Petrillo, according to whom joining the Unesco Creative Cities of Gastronomy network "means obtaining worldwide recognition for typical agri-food products, thereby being able to develop, together with the other cities already included in the prestigious network, pathways of sharing and cooperation aimed at enhancing our made in Italy."